Temporary Agency Contracts

A temporary employment contract is a special type of employment contract under which the temporary worker, or the ‘employee’, is made available by the temporary employment agency to another company, in the course of that company’s professional or business activities, to carry out work under that company’s supervision and direction. What makes a temporary employment contract unique is that the temporary employment agency is the formal employer, but the temporary worker actually works for another party, the hirer. A temporary worker is entitled to the same terms and conditions of employment as other employees working within the hirer’s company in an identical or equivalent role. However, a simplified employment law regime applies to a temporary worker. A temporary worker is not entitled to the same level of employee protection as ‘normal’ employees.

The collective labour agreements for temporary agency workers (ABU and NBBU) operate on a phased system. A new temporary agency worker starts in phase A (ABU) or phase 1 (NBBU). If a temporary agency worker continues to work for a temporary employment agency for a longer period, they progress to the next phase, in which the temporary employment contract offers greater security. In the first phase, a clause may be included in the temporary employment contract stipulating that the contract ends automatically if the work at the client organisation ceases, without the need for notice. Conversely, the temporary worker may also terminate the contract with immediate effect.